Bounds Green, north London: 'It's ordinary north London, an endangered species these days.' Photograph: Graham Turner for the Guardian

What's going for it? Oh, my sainted aunt! The prices in Muswell Hill! It's customary, I know, for Londoners to bleat about House Price Insanity, so apologies to readers beyond the M25. But still… What a difference half a mile makes, though. Bounds Green is literally the wrong side of the tracks, as far as estate agents are concerned, a few minutes' walk downhill over the railway and a few hundred thousand cheaper. No, it is not full of shops selling single-estate, organic, truffle-dusted flat whites. Instead, there are builders' merchants, caffs and Turkish grocers, and excellent streets and houses that, up the hill, would rob you of the best part of one-point-five. And it has a tube station. So ner, Muswell Hill. Some lovely little parks, too. Bounds Green is ordinary north London, like wot even Muswell Hill used to be: an endangered species these days.

The case against Ordinary: I mean that caringly, as Dame Edna might say. "Over the hill", facing north rather than south to central London, as Muswell Hill does, which makes a psychological difference, though it does just squeeze inside the North Circular, so you can convince yourself you're central-ish. No cohesive centre. Bit of a traffic bunfight.

Well connected? On the Piccadilly line, with a fabulous 1930s station to boot: Piccadilly Circus in 26 minutes. Bowes Park and Alexandra Palace stations are on the Hertford-Moorgate line: three trains an hour via Finsbury Park, Highbury & Islington and Old Street to the City (22 minutes).

Hang out at…The Step, a gallery-cum-bar-cum-cafe in an Edwardian house. Proper bohemian.

Where to buy Bounds Green Road is the spine of a web of Edwardian to 1930s streets, Myddleton Road has smashing semis and large terraces: hunt near green spaces, such as the Bowes Park conservation area and the New River. Pricier towards Muswell Hill and Alexandra Palace.